Wednesday Links Part 1

From Ian:

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Barry Rubin: Why the "Arab Peace Initiative" is Both a Good Thing and a Scam

Only a vote of the Arab League’s almost two dozen members can establish an official position. So this was not an Arab League plan at all. To represent it as an official Arab position is, then, untrue.
Indeed, we already know that the Palestinian Authority (PA) opposes this formula. At any rate, the United States cannot even get the PA to negotiate with Israel and yet fantasies of comprehensive peace are spread around by it. The mass media is cooperating in this theme, seeking to make Kerry look good at least.

Netanyahu: Conflict is Over Israel’s Existence, Not Land

The conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Authority is not over land, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Wednesday, speaking in a meeting with senior officials in the Foreign Ministry.
The conflict, he said, is over Israel’s very existence. In proof, he pointed to the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, which included the forced removal of thousands of Jewish residents of the area.

‘Your grand finale, Evyatar’

31- year-old Evyatar Borovsky, stabbed to death in a terror attack, was the father of five and a stage actor remembered for always having a smile on his face.

Leaders Urge, ‘Stop Playing with Terrorists’

Samaria Regional Council head Gershon Mesika criticized the Israeli government following the fatal terrorist attack Tuesday at a junction in Samaria (Shomron).
“This despicable murder was the direct result of inadequate action on rock-throwing terrorism, of opening the checkpoints, and of treating daily terrorist attacks as ‘disturbances,’” Mesika accused.

BBC claims attacks on Israelis in Judea & Samaria are “rare”

That means that in the one hundred and fifty-one days from the beginning of November 2012 until the end of March 2013, four hundred and sixty terror attacks took place in Judea and Samaria. That is an average of over three a day.

PMW: Fatah: Murderer of father of five is "The hero, the released prisoner"

Fatah's Facebook page is celebrating the murder and glorifying the murderer. Pictures of the terrorist and the victim were posted by Fatah's Facebook administrator and the text calls the murderer: "The hero, the released prisoner, Salam Al-Zaghal."

British Ambassador Praises Palestinian Police Accused of Torture, Urges More Funding

On this point, too, the Daily Mail is explicit. "Our taxpayers give £33 million direct to the PA, while £53 million is donated by Britain for various aid projects – more UK aid per head than we give any other nation... The UK also provides and pays for the training of middle and senior ranking officers from every PA security agency... The reason why a territory with fewer than 2.5 million inhabitants gets so much money is political.

Jordanians oppose confederation with Palestinians By Khaled Abu Toameh

The petition was signed by retired army officers and representatives of various political parties, parliamentarians and professional unions in Jordan.
It came in response to reports that the Palestinian Authority leadership and Jordan were conducting secret talks about forming a future confederation.
The petition accused US President Barack Obama, who visited Israel, Ramallah and Jordan last month, of working toward “dividing the region so as to serve Western-Zionist interests.” It said that both Palestinians and Jordanians were opposed to the confederation “conspiracy.”

Nasrallah: We will not let Assad fall

Hizbullah leader gives clearest statement yet that the Shi'ite terror group is actively supporting Assad regime

‘Hamas used metal darts to kill protesters during Egypt’s revolution’

Islamist movement also stole police cars and, with Hezbollah fighters, helped political prisoners break out of jail, Cairo’s ex-interior minister claims

Fear and fundamentalism as the 'modesty police' patrol Gaza

Police in Gaza have arrested at least 41 men on charges of immodesty this April, writes Phoebe Greenwood. And now the city is gripped with fear that Hamas is driving the population towards militant Islamic fundamentalism.

Italian police arrest four suspected Islamist militants

Italian police on Tuesday arrested four of six men they suspect are members of an Islamist militant cell which was planning attacks in the United States, Israel and Italy, though no specific targets were named by police.

Scandinavia: No one bid anti-Semitism farewell

A curious question for the amateur historian: Why did the countries of Scandinavia, a democratic region whose people share close ethnic and cultural ties, have such conflicting attitudes toward the Jews during World War II? While Denmark later earned a place card at the table of the “Righteous Among Nations” for saving nearly all its Jews, Sweden prioritized its interests over righteousness, upholding strict immigration policies that prevented Jews from readily entering the country as they sought to escape Nazi terror.